BMX Tuesdays: Brandon Cole - Filmmaker and Camera Mount Manufacturer

Brandon Cole loves BMX and filmmaking. Check his story below!




DTV: How did you get into film making?

Brandon: I started filmmaking when I was 14 years old and made my first BMX video with my dad's VHS camera. This was back in 1985 so we did all our editing in camera. If we bailed on a trick, we would rewind the tape and shoot it over again. When we finished shooting there was an overdub feature on the camera that allowed us to hook a record player up to it and turn our BMX edit into a music video.

DTV: What is Protagonist and what prompted you to start it?


Brandon: Protagonist is a lifestyle brand I started about a year ago as a sort of experimental project that allowed me to combine my two major passions: BMX riding and filmmaking. We are still sorting out what to do with the brand and weather we are going to produce apparel or media but for now it's a side project of mine that allows me to do what I fell in love with as a kid in the 80s: BMX riding and filmmaking.

DTV: What kind of equipment does your company, Midas Mounts, make?

Brandon: MidasMount is a brand of camera support for indie filmmakers by indie filmmakers. We currently make a DSLR camera slider that's been very popular as well as a shoulder mount and some handheld units for DSLR. The brand started when I bought the Canon 7D to shoot the BMX content for Protagonist. My neighbor and I built a shoulder rig and slider in his machine shop and all my friends wanted to borrow it or buy one. I started selling them on Craigslist and, after a few months of developing a better product, a retailer called me saying they saw the slider and wanted to sell it in their store. Almost by accident, I had created a small manufacturing business. Our objective is to support the indie filmmaker if that means making support for DSLR or the iPhone or whatever people are shooting with.

DTV: I heard you incorporate BMX technology into your equipment designs speak about that for a bit.

Brandon: We built the first MidasMount prototype shoulder rig using some old BMX parts - a pair of handlebars and a stem. And the slider is based on skate wheels. Even now, the retail versions of our shoulder rigs and handheld units come with S&M or FIT grips. We want to offer a line of products that filmmakers can afford to own but still produce really sturdy gear. To do that we have to use off the shelf components and so of course I'm going to use BMX parts. Again, just another way to combine both things that I love: BMX and filmmaking!

DTV: Any BMX projects you're working on now?

Brandon: I have been developing a feature film for the last several years that set in the world of BMX riding in New York City. One of the reasons I started the Protagonist brand and started shooting the Protagonist videos is that it gave me a way to develop the feature. The riders in our videos are sort of role models for the characters in the script. I'm just looking for a smart way to get it financed and produced so that it represents the BMX culture properly. It's sort of a bucket list goal for me to get this movie made but it's a great one. I'd love nothing more than to be on set of my own BMX movie really doing the two things I love in a big way.

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